USA > Louisiana > The province and the states, a history of the province of Louisiana under France and Spain, and of the territories and states of the United States formed therefrom, Vol. IV > Part 36
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Part of them went on down the Platte until they came to the mouth of Cherry creek and there on the east side laid out the town of St. Charles, claiming two sections of land as the town site. September 24, 1858, the following action was taken by the founders of the town of St. Charles :
"Upper waters of the South Platte River, at the month of Cherry Creek, Arapahoe county, Kansas Territory, September 24, 1858. This article of agreement witnesseth that T. C. Dickin- son, William McGaa, J. A. Churchill, William Smith, William Hartley, Adnah French, Frank M. Cobb, J. S. Smith and Charles Nichols have entered into the following agreement which they bind themselves, their heirs and administrators, executors, assign- ees, &c., forever to well and truly carry out the same."
Then follows a long agreement, by-laws, etc., in which it is set forth that the parties have agreed to lay out six hundred forty acres for town purposes and that each member of the com- pany was to have one hundred lots. They evidently had some misgivings as to the success of the enterprise, and coupled with these misgivings were shown something of the land grabbing propen ities that were so often manifested in the settlement of new localties at that day. A provision was incorporated in the agreement, that "if the country ever amounted to anything" John
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Smith and William McGaa were to "separately claim the frac- tional or west side section of the creek, and use their influence to see that it eventually becomes part of the property of the com- pany."*
Shortly after the organization of the St. Charles Town Com- pany the Georgians returned to the mouth of Cherry creek, and being unable to join the settlement at St. Charles on satisfactory terms, crossed over to the west side of the creek and started one of their own. About a week later they were joined by a party from Iowa, among whom was a surveyor named Henry Allen. October 29, John Smith sold the Georgians his interest in the section west of the creek, a company was organized, and the town of Auraria was laid out. The place was named after a little village in Lumpkin county, Ga., from the neighborhood of which the founders had come. The town plat was surveyed by Henry Allen, lots were selected by individuals and the work of building cabins was begun. Agents of the new settlement were sent to Montana, five miles up the Platte, and the settlers there . were induced to remove their belongings to Auraria. During the late autumn several small parties arrived and most of them joined the settlement on the west side. Thus Auraria flourished while St. Charles languished. The founders of the latter place became discouraged and all but a few left. Some returned to Lawrence and others went to Pueblo.
When, about the middle of November, another party of Kan- sans, under Gen. William Larimer and Richard E. Whitsitt, arrived they found St. Charles deserted. The Larimer party took possession, organized a new town company, and on November 17 changed the name to Denver, in honor of James W. Denver who was at that time acting governor of Kansas Territory .; For the next five days all the energies of the newcomers were directed toward the erection of cabins. November 22 a meeting was held and a constitution for the government of the Denver Town Com- pany was adopted. E. P. Stout was elected president ; William Larimer, Jr., treasurer, and II. P. A. Smith, secretary. The board of directors was made up of E. P. Stout, William Lari- mer, Jr., R. E. Whitsitt, C. A. Lawrence, William McGaa, Hickory Rogers, William Clancy and P. T. Bassett. On the
*A copy of the agreement here referred to was found some years afterward In a little memorandum book belonging to one of the party that organized the town company, and was given to the public by O. J. Goldrick.
¡Governor Deuver was given a share in the town site but he mado no claim to the lots until 18-2, ital as most of them had passed into the possession of intocent purchasers ho would not disturb their tidlos, bat surrendered all claim to the properly .
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last day of the month a contract was made with Curtis & Lowry to survey the town site of six hundred forty acres and lay out the main streets. Each of the forty-one shareholders obligated himself to build on one or more of his lots within ninety days.
John Smith, as agent for Elbridge Gerry, opened the first trading establishment in Denver. He was soon followed by Blake & Williams, and on Christmas day Richard Wooten and his brother arrived with several wagon loads of goods, making the third store in the town. They were the last immigrants to arrive that season. By the first of January there were fifty cabins in Auraria and twenty-two in Denver.
Little of importance occurred during the winter, but with the return of spring both towns began to show signs of activity. Doyle & Salomon arrived early with twelve wagon loads of goods and opened in Auraria. Their stock consisted of gro- ceries, provisions of various kinds, boots and shoes, and miners' tools and supplies. A large warehouse was erected and Auraria became a formidable rival of Denver for the trade of the com- munity. By the first of .April there were about a thousand peo -. ple at the mouth of Cherry creek. Among the early arrivals in the spring of 1859 were D. C. Oakes and William N. Byers. Oakes brought with him the first saw-mill ever in the Pike's Peak country. It was located about twenty miles south of Den- ver, on a little stream called Plum creek, where timber was plen- tiful, and on April 21 the first wagon load of lumber was taken to Denver. While W. N. Byers was at Bellevue, Neb., on his way to the Peak, he heard of a printing press for sale at Omalia. He bought it March 8, and took it with him to Denver, arriving there April 20. The second story of Wooten's store was quickly vacated for a newspaper office, and on the 22d was issued the first number of the Rocky Mountain News, the first paper to be published in what is now Colorado. An hour or so later, another printer, named Jack Merrick, issued the Cherry Creek Pioneer. No second number of the Pioneer ever made its appear- ance, for within a day or two Merrick sold his outfit to Thomas Gibson, who was associated with Byers, and the paper was con- solidated with the Newes.
Meantime the population of both Denver and Auraria kept on growing with almost marvelous rapidity. Scarcely a day passed that did not bring a fresh body of immigrants, eager to try their fortunes in the new gold fields. Nearly every one felt the great need of fame method of communication with the older settle- ments farther cast, and the friends left in the States. The near-
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est post office was Fort Laramie, two hundred miles distant. In this emergency Henry Allen established a sort of private mail route, and on the first of May dispatched a messenger from Denver for the mail. He returned with a mule load of letters and newspapers. While he was gone on his mission, the first overland coach of the Leavenworth and Pike's Peak Express Com- pany arrived, bringing the first mail. The rates charged were twenty-five cents for letters and fifty cents for newspapers. The coach made the trip from Leavenworth, a distance of 687 miles, in ten days.
While these events were taking place at the mouth of Cherry creek, explorations were being made and settlements projected in other localities. Among the first gold seekers to go to Cali- fornia was George A. Jackson, a native of Glasgow, Mo. In 1857 he returned east, and while passing through the Pike's Peak country was so favorably impressed with the indications that he determined to visit the mountains and do a little prospecting. for himself. Accordingly, the following year found him with three companions at the Pike's Peak mines. Those associated with him were Tom Golden, after whom the city of Golden was named, Antoine Janiss, and a man familiarly known by the sobri- quet of "Black Hawk." Instead of joining the little settlement at the mouth of Cherry creek the quartet struck boldly into the mountains. A camp was established on the site of Golden and the summer and fall were spent in prospecting along the Cache la Poudre, St. Vrain and Vasquez forks and on Bear creek, where they opened some placer mines. In the winter of 1858-59, Jackson explored Vasquez fork, ascending the stream on the ice as far as Grass valley. Seeing some smoke rising from the other side of the ridge, he climbed Soda Hill and discovered Idaho springs, the smoke he had seen being the vapor arising from the warm water. At the mouth of an affluent of Vasquez fork, afterward named Chicago creek, he built a fire to thaw the ground, and with his hunting knife for a pick and a tin cup" for a pan, he washed out nine dollars in a very short time. Elated with his find, he hurried back to the camp at Golden and informned his friends. Nothing could be done advantageously in the dead of winter, so they waited impatiently for the coming of spring. April 17 Jackson, with twenty-two men and a good supply of provisions, returned to the place. The wagon boxes were con- verted into sluices and within a week's time they had washed ont nearly two thousand dollars. The little creek was called by them Chicago creek, and the name of Chicago bar was con-
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ferred on the mines, but the place soon became known as Jack- son's diggings. About the first of May Jackson made a trip to Auraria and while there his movements were watched by some of the disappointed gold hunters. When he went back to Chicago bar he was followed by a crowd of anxious miners, and in a little while the diggings were crowded to overflowing.
While at Arapahoa bar Jackson met an acquaintance named John H. Gregory and invited him to share in the good fortune promised by Chicago bar. Gregory accepted the offer and a few days later started for the diggings. At the forks of the Vasquez he made a mistake, taking the north branch instead of the south. That mistake resulted in the discovery of the Gregory lode, one of the richest gold mines in Colorado.
Another account of the finding of Gregory gulch is that he first found gold on the north fork of the Vasquez or Clear creek, in January, 1859, but that running short of provisions he went to Denver and made no further effort to prospect the region until "grub staked" in May by a man named Wall. Whichever of these narratives may be true the extraordinary fortune turned his brain for a time. He sold his discovery claim to Henderson & Gridley for twenty-one thousand dollars, and about two years later disappeared from the gulch. What became of him is not definitely known.
Gold was discovered about the middle of January, 1859, in Boulder county, at the mouth of a little stream that afterward took the name of Gold run. On the south branch of the Boulder the Deadwood diggings were opened toward the last of January. The name was suggested by the mass of fallen timber in the gulch. Early in the spring J. D. Scott found gold bearing quartz on what is now called Gold hill. 'As a result of these discoveries the town of Boulder was founded. Settlements were also made during the spring and early summer at Golden City, Black Hawk, Central City, Nevada, Fair Play, Breckenridge, Tarryall, Mount Vernon, Mountain City, Buckskin Joe and various other points. Most of these settlements prospered, others perished. New diggings were opened at several places, one of the more important being at Russell gulch, by W. Green Russell, another in French gulch near Breckenridge and still another about seven or eight miles northwest of Fair Play by a mountaineer known as Buckskin Joe. Rich placers were also discovered at Tarryall. A stampede followed each of these discoveries and by September there were nine hundred men at Russell gulch washing out about
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forty dollars per day each, on the average, while Buckskin Joe and its contemporaries were even more productive.
Hundreds had been influenced to try their fortunes at Pike's Peak through pamphlets published and circulated by D. C. Oakes and W. N. Byers. That published by Oakes was in reality a diary kept by Green Russell during the summer of 1858. Byers published a "Guide to Pike's Peak" which had been widely distributed. Failing to realize the expectations built up by these pamphlets, and growing weary of the hardships of frontier life, many of those at Denver and Auraria wished themselves back in the States. They hesitated about going, however, still hoping that the wheel of fortune would catch them on its upward turn, and that they would not have to return to their friends at home empty handed.
April 16 a man named Bassett was killed in a quarrel at Denver. Several other killings followed. That settled it with many dis- gruntled, homesick individuals and they started eastward, cursing Oakes and Byers as they went. Without money, provisions, or the means of transportation, and with a journey of almost seven hundred miles before them, they kept on, telling their tale of woe to every one they met, and warning immigrants against the hard- ships, poverty and lawlessness of the Pike's Peak country. The stories they told were as greatly exaggerated as the descriptions given in the guide books that had indneed them to woo Dame Fortune in the new Eldorado. Many bound for Pike's Peak turned back thankful that they had been saved from the horrors that awaited those who were foolhardy enough to persist in going on. Every one thus turned back added his own story, colored in his own way, and persuaded others that the newly discovered gold fields were a bad place to go. Some thousands were influ- enced by such stories to change their minds and return to the States. In numerous instances goods were thrown out of wagons, to relieve the teams, and for miles down the Platte the trail was strewn with merchandise of all kinds. In the midst of the stampede came the news of the discovery of Gregory and Russell gulches, Tarryall, French gulch and the Buckskin Joe mines, and this had a tendency to check the hegira. As the reports of these discoveries reached the Eastern and Middle states hundreds of hardy, adventurous souls came to take the places of the deserters.
At the time the first settlements were made at the month of Cherry creek all that part of Colorado lying cast of the main divide was claimed as part of Kansas Territory. From Denver
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to the territorial seat of government was more than five hundred miles. The first settlers recognized that for the protection of life and property, and to secure equity between man and man, some form of local government was necessary. Not long after the town sites of Denver and Anraria were laid out .a mass meeting was called to consider the situation. At that meetng it was decided to ask the legislature of Kansas to establish a new county, to be known as Arapahoe, and A. J. Smith was chosen to represent the proposed county in the territorial legislature. At the same time the organization of a new territory was advocated and on November 6, 1858, an election was held, at which Hiram J. Graham was chosen as a delegate to go to Washington and urge congress to set off the Pike's Peak country as a separate territory to be called Jefferson.
Smith was not admitted to a seat in the Kansas legislature, but he succeeded in convincing Governor Denver of the necessity for the creation of Arapahoe county, and the governor appointed E. W. Wynkoop, Hickory Rogers, and Joseph L. McCubbin county commissioners, and H. P. A. Smith, probate judge, to administer the affairs of the new county until an election could be ordered. The first election of county officers occurred March 28, 1859. Altogether 774 votes were cast. Denver polled 144; Auraria, 241, and the outside precincts, 389. S. W. Wagoner was elected probate judge ; D. D. Cook, sheriff ; John I .. Hiffner, treasurer ; J. S. Lowrie, register of deeds; Marshall Cook, prosecuting attorney ; W. W. Hooper, auditor ; C. M. Steinberger, coroner; Ross Hutchins, assessor; L. J. Winchester, Hickory Rogers and R. S. Wooten, supervisors, and Levi Ferguson, clerk.
April 11, 1859, a public meeting was held at Auraria, at which it was resolved "That the different precincts be requested to appoint delegates to meet in convention on the 15th of April, inst., to take into consideration the propriety of organizing a new State or Territory."
The people were not a unit on the question of government. Some, as the majority of those constituting the attendance at the Auraria meeting, wanted to organize a state government at once. They' argued that the population was increasing so rapidly that by the time congress could be induced to move in the matter there would be enough people in the proposed limits to meet all consti- tutional requirements. Others wanted to continue as part of Kansas Territory. Still others wanted to serve a probationary period as a territory before being admitted into the Union, and the lawless element was opposed to all government.
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A committee was appointed at the Auraria meeting in April to designate precinct boundaries for the election of delegates on the second Monday in May, to attend a convention on the first Monday in June, to make provisions for "the formation of a new and independent State of the Union." At the appointed time fifty delegates, representing thirteen precincts, met in Wooten's hall at Denver. The only business transacted was the appointment of committees to draft a constitution to be submitted to an adjourned session of the convention on the first Monday in August, and to secure if possible a larger representation. When the convention reassembled there were present 167 delegates, representing 46 precincts. The committees appointed in June had done their work so well that the session lasted but one week. A constitution for the state of Jefferson was agreed upon and a provision adopted that it should be submitted to the people on the first Monday in September. It was further provided that, in the event of its rejection, a delegate to congress should be elected on the first Monday in October, to again go to Washington and endeavor to have congress set off the territory of Jefferson from that of Kansas. The work of the convention was therefore a compromise between the advocates of statehood and those who desired a territorial form of government. The constitution was rejected by a vote of 2,007 to 649, and on October 3, Beverly D. Williams was elected delegate over seven competitors. About 8,000 votes were cast, and charges of ballot-box stuffing were heard on all sides. At the same time Richard Sopris was elected to represent Arapahoe county in the Kansas legislature.
Immediately after the rejection of the constitution the friends of statehood called a mass meeting at Auraria, for September 24, to take steps "for the organization of a provisional territorial government." An address to the people was issued, requesting them to select delegates, at the October election, for the purpose of forming an independent government. Eighty-six delegates were elected and met pursuant to the call of the Auraria meeting. They adopted a new constitution, which they called "The Organic Act of the Territory of Jefferson;" divided the territory into legislative districts; nominated candidates for state offices, and ordered an election on the fourth Monday in October.
At that election Robert W. Steele was chosen governor of the "territory of Jefferson ;" Lucien W. Bliss, secretary ; C. R. Bissell, anditor ; R. L. Wooten, treasurer; Samuel McLean, attorney- general; 11. HI. McAfee, superintendent of public instruction ; Hickory Rogers, marshal; A. J. Allison, chief justice, S. J.
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Johnson and L. W. Borton, associate justices, and Oscar B. Totten, clerk of the supreme court. The provisional legislature consisted of a council of eight members and a house of twenty members. Those elected to the council were: N. G. Wyatt, Henry Allen, Eli Carter, Mark A. Moore, J. M. Wood, James Emerson, W. D. Arnett, and D. Shafer. The members of the house were John C. Moore, W. P. MeClure, W. M. Slaughter, M. D. Hickman, David K. Wall, Miles Patton, J. S. Stone, J. N. Hallock, J. S. Allen, A. J. Edwards, A. McFadden, Edwin James, T. S. Golden, J. A. Gray, Z. Jackson, S. B. Kellogg, William Davidson, C. C. Post, Asa Smith and C. P. Hall.#
After the organization of the provisional government the situa- tion was somewhat peculiar. Like the dog Cerberus the govern- ment of Colorado had three heads. First was that of Arapahoe county which drew its authority from the territory of Kansas, duly organized by act of congress, though the county had never been legally constituted by the Kansas legislature: second, the laws enacted by the miners in the various districts, and which furnished them with all the government they deemed necessary; and third, the provisional government of the territory of Jefferson. In the next issue after the election of October 3, the Rocky Mountain News said :
"Here we go, a regular triple-headed government machine. South of 40 ( parallel ) we hang on the skirts of Kansas ; north of 40, on those of Nebraska. Straddling the line, we have just elected a Delegate to Congress from the Territory of Jefferson; and ere long we shall have in full blast a Provisional Government of Rocky Mountain growth and manufacture."
The provisional legislature met November 7 and remained in session for forty days during which time a large number of acts were passed. Nine counties were establshed and the governor authorized to appoint probate judges for them until the regular county elections, which were ordered for the first Monday in January, 1860. On the third day of the session an act was passed granting a charter to the city of Denver. Under this charter the first city election was held, December 19, Jolin C. Moore being elected mayor. Naturally there was some friction among the different forms of government, each of which claimed sovereignty over the same territory, but not so much as might have been
*The election of a superintendent of public instruction at this time was evi- dently more in the nature of a preparation for the future than to supply a pres- ont need. At a time of the election there was but one school in operation In the territory That one was opened at Denver, October 3, by O. J. Goldrick, und was the hist school ever taught in Colorado.
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expected. One of the nine counties erected by the provisional legislature was that of Mountain county which comprised the Gregory mining district. When the county elections were held on the first Monday in January the voters of the district repudiated the county organization and the provisional government by a vote more than four to one, 95 voting for the county and 395 against it. In order to obtain revenues the legislature passed an act levying a poll tax of one dollar upon every citizen. The adherents of the territorial government of Kansas refused to pay the tax. A protest against the collection of this tax was signed by six or seven hundred miners, and the new territory of Jeffer- son had no way of enforcing its demands. Yet it was not wholly unrecognized even by those who refused to contribute to its support. The city government of Denver, which had been chartered by the provisional legislature, was observed by all and the authority of Mayor Moore was undisputed. In the mountain districts the provisional government and the miners' courts held a divided sway, and changes of venue from one form of govern- * ment to the other were occasionally made without serious objection on the part of either of the parties engaged in the litigation.
Under such circumstances one would be led to suppose that there would be little respect shown for any of the laws. But such was not the case. Hollister, in his Mines of Colorado says : "Yet a fair degree of order and decorum obtained in the somewhat heterogeneous society of the country. Only one or two cases of violence are recorded as having occurred anywhere in the mines up to the regular organization of the government in 1861, more than two years after the discovery of the Gregory Lode. The people were sober and industrious as a rule, and there were never any very remarkable criminal cases brought before the Miners Courts. In Denver it was not so quiet, although the worst days of that town would not begin to justify the hideous and altogether fictitious picture given of it by William Hepworth Dixon, A. D. 1866, to justify his absurd theory that boorishness is peculiarly a Western product. Up to the end of March, 1860, three homicides and two duels had occurred in Denver, one of the latter resulting in the death of Dr. J. S. Stone, the challenging party."
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